Dantonio elicits sympathy from Jamie Samuelson via Detroit Free Press
"The only thing that might trump the Harbaugh obsession is the obsession that Michigan State fans have over the Harbaugh obsession in the first place. Mark Dantonio went on SportsCenter, got asked about Harbaugh, and the Spartan fans went ballistic. Rolling Stone (a noted sports publication) printed an article wondering if Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer could restore the Big Ten to greatness and MSU fans harped that Dantonio is a pretty good coach too. And then a caricature of Harbaugh made it on the cover of ESPN’s College Football Preview magazine and the whole cycle repeated."
Source: Detroit Free Press, 8/11/2015 [Jamie Samuelsen]
August 11th, 2015 at 7:49 AM ^
and FUCK DANTONIO
/endthread
August 11th, 2015 at 7:55 AM ^
...she states MSU is "flying under the rader." I would take issue with that. They are the preseason number 6 team in the country. The operative word there is "team." Dantonio by nature is an "under the radar" personality. Not at all flamboyant. Petty and childish at times, to be sure, but not terribly gregarious or noteworthy as a personality.
If any TEAM is flying under the radar, it's Michigan, recently picked by ESPN to finish 7th in the B1G this year. Unlike MSU's coach, M's coach is flamboyant and clearly an "above the radar" personality.
It remains to be seen how long it will take M's flamboyant, winning coach to raise the team's on-field performances to eyebrow-raising, "flamboyant" status to match his own personality.
Count me as cautiously optimistic this year.
August 12th, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^
Didn't you read /endthread?
When I say end thread...that's the end dammit. No more comments. Shut it down. Move along!
August 11th, 2015 at 7:58 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 7:58 AM ^
All Michigan State has done is finish with at least eleven wins in four of the past five seasons, beat their arch-rivals six of the past seven meetings and become the only team in college football to finish in the top five in the polls each of the last two seasons.
Yes, but in a lot of essential ways, their attitude even in success is no different than it was, say, 25 years ago in the waning days of the Perles years (you could go back further than this to find good checkpoints too). An electromagnetic storm could accidentally switch the satellite feed from their game to ours and they would blame Michigan, their complex is that deeply rooted in their concept of their own place in the Big Ten and in college football at large. At this point, part of being a Spartan fan - typically - seems to be an irrationally expansive hatred of Michigan and things Michigan. Whatever to that.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:19 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 8:33 AM ^
The United States of Space!
Write this down: M-A-R-S, Mars bitches. Red Rocks!
August 11th, 2015 at 8:56 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
Hey man, we had nothing to do with that. You Spartan folks are just being paranoid.
August 12th, 2015 at 12:36 AM ^
I really can't think of any other fanbase that is as conflicted as State fans by the the question of what would make them happier: seeing their own team succeed or their rival stumble.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:26 AM ^
. . is the record of the Wolverines of the past ten seasons. Dantonio plays Dangerfield plays well in East Lansing, State of Michigan, and national media. The dude just wins. He can whine all he wants. Winning, whining, whatever, as longs as those wins keep rolling in.
I am a lifetime Wolverine fan and recognize what a great coach Dantonio is. He is a coach with a program, staff, system, and team to be respected. He's beaten a bunch of teams that have underestimated MSU potential.
MSU recruiting certainly doesn't suffer for the mantra of "no respect." Player development seems to benefit from the logic. There is no resting on past laurels in the model. It's about taking care of business, better than before, right now.
If Dantonio cannot receive solid press for achievement, he might as well earn it for whining. The only thing worse than no positive attention is no attention. For now, whining attention fills the gap just fine.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:37 AM ^
They have always complained about how they get no respect, that Michigan gets all the press coverage, that they are the underdog, blah, blah, blah. And Dantonio is the perfect red ass for that spiel.
Samuelson is right, that HarbaughMania is locker room material for Dantonio. MSU is a top 10 team in the country and yet they still whine about being #2 in the state, whatever the metric for such a #2 ranking might be.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
They are a good football team. Better than us right now. We better show up to play against them. We can't assume just because we have Harbaugh we are going to win the game.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:32 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
I'm a Spartan, but this made me laugh. Not only clever, but there's probably some truth to it. +1
August 11th, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^
Freep yesterday had some garbage guest-written article about how MSU is now OSU's biggest rival. Meanwhile, CBS Sports was reporting about a certain blocking sled at OSU's practice facility:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/252655…
I'm not sure how this fits in this thread, but it seemed on point.
August 11th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:09 AM ^
here and moved away for about 18 years then moved back.
Nothing has changed, they just win more.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:14 AM ^
got Mike Dantoni's name wrong.
August 11th, 2015 at 9:19 AM ^
And still nobody cares.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^
Little Bros tears.....
August 11th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
want to beat them. I think that is why I get so pissed everyday seeing an MSU related thread on here. It's a constant reminder that we seem to be grasping for straws with them. Let's just beat their ass finally. I'm sick of losing to them, more than OSU at this point. I'm sick of reading threads of victory in some fashion other than on the field....God, I hope we win....
August 11th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
is more important, as our margin in all time wins against them is getting uncomfortably close to even.
That said, I can't wait to see us beat MSU again. And not just eek out a close victory. I want to see us pound the shit out of them like we used to almost every year. Win by 14+ and go for two on the last TD.
August 11th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
They have beaten us 10 out of the last 11. Time to stop that trend pronto!! I know that you can almost say the same thing for MSU but we have dominated them forever. Ohio State needs to be stopped.
August 11th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
Who is this Mark Dantonio fella who they say went on Sports Center? From what I recall, the coach that was on ESPN that day was Mike D'Antoni. I don't know why Spartan fans would be so upset about him getting asked about Harbaugh.
August 11th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
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August 11th, 2015 at 11:46 AM ^
So sick of the "GREEN WALL."
August 11th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
The thing is, yes, Harbaugh is getting pub, but in terms of respect you can't find an analyst who doesn't think MSU is in the playoff competition. I hope this is the year they begin their descent back to complete irrelevance.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^
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